A Walk in the Woods

In the early part of the summer, the weather in eastern Newfoundland is unpredictable, like putting a quarter in a jelly bean candy machine and not getting any black ones.  But on this day, July 10, I lucked out with the most perfect day you could imagine.

I met a group of other hikers in Mobile, NL (pronounced "mo-byle") which is about 30 minutes drive south of St. John's. From there, we began walking south along the coast on the East Coast Trail, which, in its entirety, stretches for 265 km from north of St. John's to Cappahayden in the south of the Avalon Peninsula.

Although it was all picturesque, as you can see from the photos, the most scenic spot was at Tinker's Point where we stopped for a lunch break.  From high atop a cliff, I could gaze out over the vast expanse of the ocean.  Due to the capelin (fish) near the shore, waiting for their instinctive signal that the time is right to move into the shallowest water to lay their eggs and beach themselves, there were several whales gobbling them up, like a kid at the carnival with twenty bucks who has just discovered the deep-fried Mars bar concession stand.  The humpbacks and Minke whales could easily be seen spouting and rolling through the surface, with an occasional humpback tail raised above the surface as it dives deep.

 We ended the hike at Tor Cove, another small harbour about 5 km from where we began. Good company, no mosquitoes or biting flies and a perfect day.  I look forward to doing many more hikes this summer and fall.  My only regret was that our dog, Pippin, was too old and arthritic to join me any more.